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I only watched Madoka after it was done and the first time was pretty underwhelming. Episode 3 in particular, because of how a certain character got so much hype only to end up doing nothing. Madoka's design was marketed everywhere, so I was constantly waiting to see her transform. I didn't really let myself get spoiled, so the story itself was a surprise at least. But the idea of "it sucks being a magical girl, you die" isn't exactly new.

I liked it a lot more on my second viewing, maybe because I could pay attention to the details and appreciate Sayaka and Kyoko more.

And yes, the internet can ruin the fun. I'm currently trying to avoid Eva spoilers, not that easy...
But my friends can ruin shows for me too. They always try to get me into liking something. When one of the guys was into Mai-Hime, he would talk about it all the time, how awesome this scene will be, how tragic that will be... After a while I got tired of it and watched the show. To say I was dissapointed is an understatement. The super tragic lovers story in the middle felt like anything but, since the characters barely did anything up till that point, so I couldn't care less. And the ending...
In retrospect, it wasn't a bad show at all, but I still can't get over how dissapointed I was and I tend to avoid or try and not listen my friends now, when they really like a show.

There are positive examples too, the reason I managed to get passed and then enjoy AKB0048 was thanks to ghostlightning and some other people watching the show and commenting on it. If it hadn't been for some positive reviews, I had dropped the show after the first 5 minutes.

I usually find watching a show backwards helps me enjoy it better. For instance, I'll spoil myself with the ending and then watch from the beginning to determine the changes to reach that ending. It is a neat way to determine character development too, most of which is lost upon re-watches.

"Length-y" answer: The internet has indeed spoiled several anime/manga for me. The same thing goes for any form of media: games, movies, sitcoms... but it's a mixed bag. While information overload can lead to disappointment, it can also save you time and anguish by helping steer you clear of something you might otherwise have invested in, only to be left disappointed. Unfortunately, the only way to know for certain is to take the plunge and see for yourself.

I liked Homura too, and I got to like Mami thanks to the drama CD's, but her character was a huge let down in the show itself after all the hype she got. I'm still waiting for an english release of the Madoka: The different story manga done by the same artist who did the manga for the show, a bit more on Mami and Kyoko this time would be an interesting read.
I'm not really looking forward to any other releases though, the original show had good ideas that worked, but I don't see how they can go beyond that without becoming another regular magical girl series.

I had a similar problem with Clannad. I saw all the hype about it and decided to give it a shot. I managed to watch most of the first season, but I was mostly "meh" about it. I totally get that some things aren't for everyone, and I certainly don't mind shows like Clannad, but for some reason, despite the hype that I heard about, this show just didn't grab me.

I avoided all spoilers on Clannad. For the first season, yeah; I spoiled myself. The second, I avoided any and all spoilers similar to how I worked into watching Macross Frontier, only seeing tidbits or samples to gain inspiration to watch it. Otherwise, the later second season wouldn't have done such an impact on me for the main characters. The child's death was perhaps the strongest of both.

One series immediately spring up to mind is Haruhi. There are a lot of press, hype and popularity associated with that show. Fans going gaga and otakus crying tears of joy...

But I never cared for it. In fact, I haven't even watched it, so I cannot comment much. I just... didn't care. Of course, it didn't help that Hirano turned out to be eh, very promiscuous.

Though the reverse happens to me much more. I have actually loved many shows that aren't hyped, often underrated and even criticized. One of the most prominent example would be Turn A Gundam. I did not watch the series until several years after it finished its run.

Its criticized back home for the ugliness of the titular machine, but its a show with a lot of heart. Not perfect, mind you, but in my opinion, its one of the best Gundam series out there, and perhaps the most original as well.

Then there are shows that are popular but I can never understand why. Macross 7 for example.

Although most of my subscriptions on YouTube during its run used many scenes from its materials, I never found it interesting. Most of what people would upload is its dance scenes or the famous running through the halls dragging the main character by his collar. In 2011, I finally decided to beat one of my subscriptions to the punch and watch the movie before he could finish his video for it. However, the movie was a major disappointment. To those who'd watched the series, perhaps it had a different impression. But for someone like me who hadn't watched the series, I was not only lost, disappointed, but also bored. Literally a two hour movie full of boredom.

To sum up the movie portion: it was two long, boring hours of watching the main character search in an alternate universe for the girl whilst going through depression, drama, more depression, loneliness, more drama, and finally we climax it with what could have been an epic fight if they hadn't ended it. So basically, a failure in itself. Therefore, I am very disappointed.

Like you, Swampstorm, I felt the Shana series was also oversold. I never felt a connection when watching the first five episodes, after all; everyone spoiled the ending before it was even really released to the internet. The movie, at least the only one I've ever seen, was a bit interesting to watch but sadly since I hadn't seen the series, I was lost.

On naming a few, I can think of various well known shows that get over-hyped besides those: Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece, etc. The well-known names are the worst ones for being oversold.
Seriously, One Piece alone has never been a very good show.
Bleach is one of the best in the bunch, having seriously moving arcs and realistic characters to relate to, besides its long run of filler arcs.
Now, I can say that Dragon Ball Z is perhaps the hardest to categorize here, since a lot of it was filler, and a lot of its arcs were really stupid, ridiculous, and the characters were really unrelatable compared to the main character, who literally was the physical manifestation of innocence, but I put it up there with the most comical anime of its time (during its original run).
However, Naruto is the one to receive the most hype. This show is hardly worth someone's time. The plot alone jerks around and the characters aren't worth investing in. Avoiding the filler arcs is no simple task considering the anime has never done well at keeping up with the manga or actually animating the manga well. Even my best friend who was obsessed with the anime, talked it up to high hell of how epic it was, dropped it as an anime to watch. I started watching it on Toonami... I dropped it after the fifth episode. Of course, spoilers for this show are all over the Internet.

Back when I was little, Gundam was the most well-known show besides DBZ. Particularly Gundam Wing, the first show of its franchise to reach Toonami during 90s. Nowadays, Gundam is not as popular as then. But then again, Pokemon was also one of those oversold shows. Had the series continued with only the 51 characters to obtain, perhaps it would still be popular. However, as they added more characters, quests, and filler arcs, fans became uninterested. I, however, lost interest after Warner Bros. dropped the project and lost the original voice actors I grew up with as a child.

How many of you also remember Digimon? Was I the only one to find this to be an oversold show? The entire first season was boring and ridiculous to watch. My favorite season of it was probably Digimon Frontier, the one where they actually became the digimon they embodied. Otherwise, the show was almost always oversold with the exception of the first two movies. Even though I prefer the Japanese, I'll say the English dub of the movies gives a few good laughs though.

I watched Durarara!! whilst it was airing so I was never spoiled of its hype. I truly enjoyed it for that reason. However, the show's design was much to be desired. Sadly, a lot of action series have taken after this design, SOA included, which decide to throw away detail to the animation entirely and focus on quick work instead. I tend to dislike this.

Well, in my case, I was already in my late teens when I first heard of DBZ and in my mid 20s when Pokemon came out. I was simply too busy with...other things...to ever see these shows, let alone be a fan of them.